Jesse St. James
Jesse St. James is the male lead and member of "Vocal Adrenaline." He was also for a time a member of Vocal Adrenaline's rival group, New Directions; where he was also the male lead singer. He is portrayed by Jonathan Groff. Biography Jesse is a senior at Carmel High and was the male lead singer of Vocal Adrenaline although he briefly joined New Directions under the presumed intention of being with Rachel Berry, only to then go back to Vocal Adrenaline. He is presumably seventeen to eighteen years of age. He's going to attend the University of California in Los Angeles. Season One In the fourteenth episode, Hell-O, Rachel meets Jesse for the first time while in the library and together they sing "Hello" by Lionel Ritchie on the piano. Rachel, who was still recovering from being rejected by Finn, is immediately star-struck and attracted to the smoking hot senior boy, who has led Vocal Adrenaline to Regionals three years running. Jesse dismisses Rachel's performance of "Don't Rain on My Parade" as lacking emotional depth, but conceding that she has talent nonetheless. He then asks her to date, which she immediately agrees to, as her hopes/plans with Finn have fallen to the wayside. Finn however soon realizes that he wants to be with Rachel and apologizes but Rachel tells him to move on like she did. Jealous and worried, Finn tells Mr. Schuester about Jesse, who then goes to confront Shelby Corcoran, the director of Vocal Adrenaline about the relationship, where Will sees Jesse and Vocal Adrenaline perform "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC. Finn meanwhile informs the rest of the New Directions who also think that Jesse is using Rachel and if she doesn't break up with him, they will expel her from the group. Afraid of losing the two most important things to her right now, Rachel then goes to confront Jesse to see if he really loves her or if he's using her. He assures her that he does indeed care for her, and asks that she continue to see him. She agrees under the requirement that they keep their relationship secret. While they are kissing, Shelby Corcoran, the coach of Vocal Adrenaline, is watching them and nods at Jesse, implying that he really is using Rachel. As time passes, his relationship with Rachel seems to grow more intense. In "The Power of Madonna", he begins to pressure Rachel into having sex. When she refuses, he becomes upset and storms off, leaving behind the Care Bear that she got him. However, he later concedes that he was wrong for trying to force her, to which she then professes to be ready for Sex. On the night that they make the attempt however, Rachel backs down and claims that she can't be in a relationship with Jesse, for fear of hurting her teammates in the Glee group. Then in a shocking move, Jesse transfers to William McKinley High School. Apparently his parents are in Bali, and he's opted to quit Vocal Adrenaline and move in with his uncle, so as to be with Rachel. Mr. Schuester welcomes him into the group, which infuriates everyone, who deem him to be a spy and who feel that he will end up taking all the solos, which they already deal with from Finn and Rachel. Rachel however is pleased to have Jesse there, as that means that as a member of New Directions, she can have an open relationship with him. Finn later apologies to Rachel about his behavior, and Jesse, upon seeing this challenges Finn to a sing-off, in which Rachel pleads a silent "No," after all, it would be a "deathmatch" between the two loves of her life. Finn however instead welcomes Jesse to the group, saying he appreciates having another male lead to help him support the group, and invites Jesse to help with their new Madonna number, "Like a Prayer" in which Jesse sings back-ups. Then in "Bad Reputation", Jesse is in favor of posting Sue's own version of "Physical". When Rachel shows her "bad reputation" music video, "Run Joey Run", he realizes that he was playing the part of the "... hunky heroic male lead..." with Puck and Finn. After, all three of the guys are infuriated about being used and storm out of the room (except for Puck). Later, Jesse confronts Rachel and tells her not to talk to him at ballet club, signifying he is actually hurt. Finally, he sings back up in "Total Eclipse of the Heart". Jesse returns in the episode "Dream On" where he helps Rachel find her biological mother. It is revealed that he was in fact acting on Shelby's orders, but Jesse confesses to Shelby that he is starting to like Rachel, however, she wants him to befriend her so that she will finally be able to meet her daughter. Nothing is said as to whether her motives also include sabotaging New Directions. In "Funk", he returns once again and it is revealed that he has transfered back to Carmel High School and left New Directions for Vocal Adrenaline, claiming that he was misconsidered at McKinley High School. All Vocal Adrenaline members perform "Another One Bites the Dust" in the beginning of the episode. Jesse calls Rachel asking her to meet him in the parking lot where Vocal Adrenaline eggs her, during which Jesse looks guilty and hurt. Jesse holds his egg, not wanting to throw it. When another Vocal Adrenaline member pressures Jesse to be "one of them", he looks at the egg in his hand and walks slowly to Rachel. She tells him to "break it like you broke my heart." He tells her that he loved her and, with a very pained expression, smashes the egg on her head. The males of New Directions are enraged and threaten to rip Jesse's face off but Will calms them down, calls Jesse and ask him and his team to meet them in their auditorium. New Directions get back on Vocal Adrenaline at the end of the episode, performing "Give Up the Funk" and Jesse confesses he is "truly depressed" because Vocal Adrenaline was never able to "pull off a "Funk" number." Personality Jesse seems to be the male equivalent of Rachel Berry. Intense, talented, tactless and occasionally overly dramatic, he seems to be driven to musical success, and hopes to one day be a famous performer. His hardcore desires have forced him to supposedly create an overly confident personality, which is arrogant, dismissive and rude. He claims that this behavior is a facade, and that beneath that, he's a good guy. He also seems to rush into things, like Rachel does, such as a relationship with her in which both confess to be 'deeply in love'. Whether that is true however is called into question, because he might be manipulating Rachel Berry and their relationship so as to spy on New Directions for the Vocal Adrenaline coach, Shelby Corcoran. But although he really was sent by his coach, Shelby Corcoran, it seems that he really did feel something for Rachel. Trivia *Although Jesse has apparently been has the lead in Vocal Adrenaline the entire series, he is not seen in any of the numbers by Vocal Adrenaline prior to Episode 14. *Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele are best friends in real life after working for years together on the musical Spring Awakening. *Jonathan Groff even introduced Lea to the show's creator Ryan Murphy prior to the show's start and he later wrote the part of Rachel Berry with her in mind. *Jonathan Groff is gay in the real life Category:i hate jesse st james